recipes from a girl with a big appetite & a tiny kitchen

Appetizers

A few weeks ago I decided to test out my green thumb and planted some herbs and flowers on my balcony. I have always wanted to have a garden but have never lived somewhere where that was possible. So planter boxes it was! I planted basil, parsley, thyme, and cilantro.

I have to say I am pretty impressed with how well they are all doing (so far). The cilantro is the only one not really working out. When I went to the garden store I asked for some advice on each herb, I was told to not let the cilantro to go to seed. I nodded my head like I knew what she was talking about. Well when I noticed my cilantro wasn’t doing well I did some more research and discovered you don’t want the plant to flower and need to trim it to keep the cilantro leaves growing.

This past week I had my family in town which calls for lots of time spent exploring and lots of food in my refrigerator (both of these things I have no problem with whatsoever). When it came to this weekend after everybody left though, I found myself with tons of leftovers in the fridge. As to not waste any food, I restricted myself to only eating leftovers until I go grocery shopping again. This plan led me with the realization that I would have to eat a ridiculous amount of salad and greens in a short amount of time to succeed. So to not waste anything, I saw this arugula and knew exactly what to make with it: pesto!

I have made this arugula pesto in the past due to a similar issue. A year or so ago I was house sitting for someone who had a garden and to thank me for the help I received a large bundle of arugula as payment. I was so excited until I realized that eating excess amounts of arugula is not a simple task. So once again I came to the conclusion to make pesto!

With the big game just around the corner I keep seeing lots of football snacks circling the Internet. Of course this means lots of wing, nacho, and dip recipes. Don’t get me wrong these are three foods I could eat daily however, I propose we bring a new player into the mix: potstickers. It turns out making potstickers at home is incredibly easy and super delicious.

I never really considered making homemade potstickers, especially after finding frozen ones at Trader Joes that are addicting. I decided to give it a try after feeling ambitious the other afternoon and wanting to step outside of my comfort zone. As it turns out these are a cinch to make and are ready in 30 minutes.